Sanlu Group at Heart of China Milk Scandal Declared Bankrupt by Court
Sanlu Group, the dairy giant at the heart of the melamine contamination scandal, was declared bankrupt yesterday (Feb 12th) by the Intermediate People's Court of Shijiazhuang. According to a court order, Sanlu Group met the conditions for bankruptcy when it failed to repay outstanding debts, which now surpass its assets. It has 274 creditors, the largest being the Sanlu Business and Trade Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group itself. Other creditors include banks, distributors and suppliers.

Chinese Mining Giant to Inject 19.5 Billion USD into Rio Tinto
China's mining giant Chinalco announced yesterday (Feb 12th) that it plans to inject 19.5 billion U.S. dollars into Rio Tinto, a Spanish mining company. The transaction will forge a pioneering strategic partnership through the creation of joint ventures trading aluminum, copper, and iron ore. This potential deal is viewed as a move to help Chinalco lay the foundation to become an international mining giant. However, this transaction has still to be approved by Rio Tinto's shareholders, governments and other regulators.

(Photo from:news.cn)

China's top builder plans infrastructure fund
China's top highway and port builder, China Communications Construction Co. said yesterday (Feb 12th) that it plans to team-up with banks to set up a fund to invest in infrastructure facilities on the mainland. Executive director of the company, Fu Junyuan, said the company has started talking to several mainland and Hong Kong commercial banks. Fu declined to comment on the final size of the fund, but said the start-up capital for such a big investment should at least be of 2 / 5 billion Yuan. He was confident the company could achieve its target of raising its shares in the domestic railway-construction market to about 10 percent in 2009-2010, up from 7 percent last year.